High Street will once again be awash in white as the Piccadilly in White returns Aug. 3.
The Piccadilly is hosted by Downtown Jefferson City to fundraise for beautification of the downtown area.
The night starts with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at 7 p.m., but the main event is a piccadilly auction at 8 p.m.
Here's how the auction works: Guests will be given paddles with assigned numbers. To bid on an item, guests will deposit the designated bid amount into a bowl on each table and hold up a paddle. Then a number is drawn, bingo style, and announced.
If a guest's number is drawn, and they bid, they'll win the item. Each item up for auction will be less than $5. All of the money in the bowls for each auction is kept for the fundraiser.
Crystal Tellman, past president of the Downtown Jefferson City Association, said its a "raffle gone auction."
Money raised by the event helps improve downtown Jefferson City through different projects. Last year, the money helped bring more flower baskets to the area.
This year, there isn't a specific plan for the money, Tellman said. A few ideas include funding the snow removal for downtown businesses, replacing Christmas lights or continuing the flower project.
"We have several ideas, and we'd love to do them all," Tellman said.
Tellman said there are around 25 auction items. Some of the bigger items up for auction this year include a trip from Central Travel, a Holiday Light Tour on the Trolley, a wagon of whiskey and wine, and a table at next year's Piccadilly. Others are packages with a few things like massages or gift cards.
One auction item is auctioned for a charity each year. This year, the charity is Council for Drug Free Youth. All of the money that auction item raises will be donated to the charity.
Guests are encouraged to wear their "summer whites" in keeping with the theme.
"We wanted it to feel like a summer whites party - you're white and bright, and it's hot outside, and wearing white just seems cooler," Tellman said.
The event takes place on the block of High Street between Madison and Jefferson streets. The street will be closed from 1 p.m. until the event is cleaned up later in the evening, likely around 11 p.m., Tellman said.
Food for this year has been donated by several businesses: Spectators Sports Bar & Grill, Bones Restaurant and Lounge, Sweet Smoke BBQ, Ready Popped, Ecco Lounge, Jimmy Johns, Arris' Pizza, Bar Vino, The Grand Cafe, J. Pfenny's Sports Grill & Pub, and Hy-Vee.
Tickets to the event cost $50 per person or $400 for a table of eight. In addition, guests can purchase a $90 "all in" pass, which enters them for every auction item.
Tickets can be purchased at downtownjeffersoncity.com or from the event's Facebook page. But hurry - the event holds 300, and as of July 19 around 225 tickets had been sold.